The present invention relates to a board mounted connector for connecting printed circuit boards to each other.
Existing board to board connecting systems include a male, or plug connector, to be soldered to one board and a female, or receptacle connector, to be soldered to another board. The male and female connectors are designed to engage and mate with one another. The plug connector and the receptacle connector are respectively provided with plug terminals and receptacle terminals that are to be soldered to conductive circuits on the boards. When the mating plug and receptacle are mated together, the plug and receptacle terminals are in electrical engagement with each other thereby electrically connecting the conductive circuits from one circuit board to the other circuit board.
Various types of board to board connectors have been used in the past. One such board connector has receptacle terminals with contact portions which electrically engage plug terminals in a mating plug connector, anchor portions for holding the receptacle terminals to a receptacle housing, and solder tail portions for soldering the receptacle terminals to a conductive circuit on a board.
In this board to board connector, the contact portions and the solder tail portions are spaced apart from one another since the solder tail portions extend from the anchor portions beyond the sides of the connector housing. The use of this connector requires a larger footprint on the printed circuit board. Also, because the solder tail portion extends from a flexible elongated arm located on the exterior of the connector, the strength of the solder joint is diminished. Furthermore, because of the long length of the solder tail arm, the signal has to travel a longer distance before it electrically communicates with the circuit on the circuit board. This extra length can be a factor in timing with high speed signals. Finally, such a connector has only one point of electrical and mechanical engagement with the printed circuit board which can result in a weak mechanical and electrical connection.
All of these characteristics are important for a connector with terminals which are inserted into a mating side of the connector housing opposite the side adjacent the printed circuit board. It is important that a bottom portion of the housing remains to prevent any short circuit between the terminals and the conductive circuits traveling under the housing after the terminals are inserted into the mating side of the connector. Providing this bottom housing portion will allow for more freedom of circuit designs on the printed circuit board.